Hello everyone,

We've been back home in Costa Rica for a while now, and have been very busy.

 Before we flew back to Costa Rica the first week of March, we met with some friends at a Cracker Barrel for lunch. While waiting for them to arrive, I took out my banjo and sat in one of the rockers and played. That turned out to be a great way to draw a crowd and meet some very nice people. One of them was a pastor who invited Dad and me to come to the church to share our testimony and my music that evening. It was unexpected, but we had a wonderful time sharing with the folks at the Community Wesleyan Church in Leesburg, Florida!

I've also been continuing my exploration of the many tones available to me through both my new electric and my Deering banjo.

I'm very happy with the tone I get out of my other instruments, so now I am trying out all of the major types of strings from GHS Strings to find the set I'll use as my "standard" for these new instruments. Then I'll experiment with the gauges to fine-tune both the action and the tone to my liking on both instruments.

It's a time consuming process, but it sure pays off in the end with an instrument that is not just really good, but absolutely fantastic feeling and playing!

About a month ago, Dad and I had a great time at a friend's home for a "guy's get-together". Rick (our host) grilled some meat & veggies, and we all had a great time talking, fellowshipping and playing guitars. Pablo Ortiz was also there and we had a great time. I even had him try my Deering D-6 banjo. It was really neat hearing him play classical music on the banjo! It was a wonderful evening.
 

We are about to begin a sabbatical as a family. It will be the first one we've had in years... We will be staying in Idaho. We fly out there on Monday. It will also be my first time visiting Idaho, so I'm pretty excited about that!

I was invited by Dr. Stephen Borger the District Superintendent for the Intermountain District of the Church of the Nazarene to play during the offertory at the Intermountain District Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene in the Collage Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho this coming Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes!

I've got a number of dates lined up for the coming months! If you're in the area please come out and see me.

Keep pickin' & grinnin'...
Buddy